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Abstract:

Disclosed herein are a conductor pattern of an electronic component
formed in an oval coil shape on a magnetic substrate, the conductor
pattern including: a straight part; and a curved part connected to the
straight part at both sides thereof, wherein a line width of the curved
part is smaller than that of the straight part, and an electronic
component including the same. With the conductor pattern and the
electronic component including the same according to the present
invention, the high precision fine line width and the high resolution
conductor pattern may be implemented to improve connectivity, thereby
improving characteristics and reliability of the electronic component.

Claims:

1. A conductor pattern of an electronic component formed in an oval coil
shape on a magnetic substrate, the conductor pattern comprising: a
straight part; and a curved part connected to the straight part at both
sides thereof, wherein a line width of the curved part is smaller than
that of the straight part.

2. The conductor pattern according to claim 1, wherein in the case in
which the line width of the straight part is 10 μm, the line width of
the curved part is 8 to 9 μm.

3. The conductor pattern according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the case
in which an interval between the straight parts adjacent to each other is
10 μm, an interval between the curved parts adjacent to each other is
10 to 12 μm.

4. The conductor pattern according to claim 1, further comprising an
internal coil pattern of a common mode filter.

5. An electronic component comprising: a magnetic substrate; a first
conductor pattern formed on the magnetic substrate; and a second
conductor pattern provided on an upper portion of the first conductor
pattern, wherein the first conductor pattern and the second conductor
pattern are formed in an over coil shape in which they include a straight
part, and a curved part connected to straight part at both sides thereof,
a line width of the curved part being smaller than that of the straight
part.

Description:

CROSS REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of
Korean Patent Application Serial No. 10-2011-0086532, entitled "Conductor
Pattern and Electronic Component Having the Same" filed on Aug. 29, 2011,
which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this
application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to a conductor pattern and an
electronic component having the same, and more particularly to a
conductor pattern capable of implementing a conductor pattern having a
high precision fine line width and a high resolution to improve
connectivity, thereby improving characteristics and reliability of an
electronic component, and an electronic component having the same.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In an electronic component such as a digital TV, a smart phone, a
laptop computer, or the like, a transmission/reception function of data
in a high frequency band has been widely used. In future, it is expected
that this information technology (IT) electronic product is singly used
or several IT electronic products are connected to each other using a
universal serial bus (USB), other communication ports so as to be
multi-functionalized and complexed, such that the utilization of the IT
electronic product will increase.

[0006] Here, in order to rapidly transmit and receive the data, a
frequency band is moved from a frequency band such as a MHz band to a
high frequency band such as a GHz band, such that a large amount of data
are transmitted and received through internal signal lines.

[0007] In order to transmit and receive a large amount of data as
described above, there is a problem in smoothly processing the data due
to signal delay and other noises at the time of transmission and
reception of the data of the high frequency band such as the GHz band
between a main device and a peripheral device.

[0008] In order to solve the problem, a counter electromagnetic
interference (EMI) component is provided around a connection portion
between the IT electronic product and a peripheral device. However, the
existing counter EMI component, which is a winding or multilayered type,
has a large chip component and bad electrical characteristics, such that
it may be used only in a limited region such as a specific portion, a
large area circuit board, and the like. Therefore, in accordance with
slimness, miniaturization, complexities, multi-functionalization of the
electronic products, counter EMI components have been demanded.

[0009] The existing winding or multilayered type counter EMI components
have a limitation in forming an internal circuit having a small area
required for adding various functions in order to correspond to formation
and miniaturization of an internal conductor pattern and causes many
problems.

[0010] More specifically, in the existing winding or multilayered type
counter EMI components, in order to form a fine line width of the
internal conductor pattern and connect an upper pattern and a lower
pattern that are laminated to each other, a via is formed and electrical
conduction is then made to form a plurality of internal patterns, that
is, coil type patterns, in a limited area, such that direct current (DC)
bias characteristics are decreased due to an increase in a change rate in
inductance according to impedance, DC resistance, and high current,
internal resistance increases due to distortion or disconnection of the
pattern caused by irregularity of a thickness between the layers, and the
impedance and a coupling coefficient are decreased due to a defect in an
alignment state of the upper and lower internal conductor patterns.

[0011] In other words, the internal conductor pattern is formed by a
photolithography process. Here, in the case of directly forming the
internal conductor pattern on a magnetic material substrate and a polymer
resin insulating layer or the magnetic material substrate, various
problems have been generated at the time of performing deposition,
exposure, development, plating, and etching processes.

[0012] In particular, in the case of removing unnecessary metal patterns
in order to implement a fine line width of the internal conductor pattern
at the time of performing the etching process, an interval between the
patterns adjacent to each other is narrow, such that it is difficult to
perform penetration of an etching liquid and delamination, thereby
causing problems such as collapse of the patterns, local removal of an
actual pattern due to over-etching, and the like. In addition, product
reliability is decreased due to a decrease in adhesion between the
internal conductor pattern and the substrate caused by under-cut.

[0013] That is, as shown in FIG. 1A, a phenomenon that an outside portion
of the internal conductor pattern 1 is collapsed has been generated,
which causes an increase in the DC resistance and a decrease in a
coupling coefficient due to the defect in the alignment state between the
upper and lower internal conductor patterns that are main characteristics
of the EMI electronic components.

[0014] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1B, a separation or delamination
phenomenon between the substrate and the patterns due to the over-etching
has been generated after an etching process for forming the internal
conductor pattern to decrease the adhesion between the substrate and the
internal conductor pattern 2, thereby decreasing the product reliability.

[0015] In addition, as shown in FIG. 1C, the thickness of the internal
conductor pattern 3 is non-uniform to decrease the adhesion between the
substrate and the internal conductor pattern and cause distortion of the
pattern due to a step generated at the time of forming a plurality of
layers.

[0016] As an example, FIG. 2 is a view showing the internal conductor
pattern of a common mode filter of the existing EMI electronic
components. Referring to FIG. 2, the internal conductor pattern 11 of the
existing common mode filter 10 has a helical coil shape in general, and a
line width W of the internal conductor pattern 11 is uniformly formed.

[0017] In a method of fabricating the internal conductor pattern 11, a
conductive substrate 12 is firstly prepared, and a seed layer such as Ti,
Cr, Cu, Ag, or the like is formed for forming the internal conductor
pattern 11 on the conductive substrate 12. In addition, after applying a
photoresist on the seed layer, exposure, development, etching, and
photoresist removing processes may be performed to form the internal
conductor patterns. Here, a process of laminating a dry film instead of
the photoresist may be performed.

[0018] However, in the internal conductor pattern 11 of the existing
common mode filter 10, the line width W is uniformly formed, such that an
interval between the conductor patterns is narrow. Therefore, a treating
liquid is not smoothly penetrated or removed at the time of performing
the exposure, the development, and the etching processes to decrease
implementation of the internal conductor patterns.

[0019] In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, in the case of a portion which
is curved of the internal conductor pattern 11, that is an oval coil
pattern, the treating liquid is not smoothly penetrated and removed in a
curved part 11b as compared to a straight part 11a. Therefore, a Cu seed
layer 13 is not removed, such that the conductor patterns are not
electrically separated from each other, but are connected to each other,
that is, short-circuited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0020] An object of the present invention is to provide a conductor
pattern capable of implementing a conductor pattern having a
high-precision fine line width and a high resolution to improve
connectivity, thereby improving characteristics and reliability of an
electronic component, and an electronic component having the same.

[0021] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided a conductor pattern of an electronic component formed
in an oval coil shape on a magnetic substrate, the conductor pattern
including: a straight part; and a curved part connected to the straight
part at both sides thereof, wherein a line width of the curved part is
smaller than that of the straight part.

[0022] In the case in which the line width of the straight part is lop,
the line width of the curved part may be 8 to 9 μm.

[0023] In the case in which an interval between the straight parts
adjacent to each other is 10 μm, an interval between the curved parts
adjacent to each other may be 10 to 12 μm.

[0024] The conductor pattern may further include an internal coil pattern
of a common mode filter.

[0025] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided an electronic component including: a magnetic
substrate; a first conductor pattern formed on the magnetic substrate;
and a second conductor pattern provided on an upper portion of the first
conductor pattern, wherein the first conductor pattern and the second
conductor pattern are formed in an over coil shape in which they include
a straight part, and a curved part connected to straight part at both
sides thereof, a line width of the curved part being smaller than that of
the straight part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 is a view describing problems at the time of forming the
existing internal conductor pattern, wherein (a) is a view showing
collapse of an outside pattern, (b) is a view showing separation of the
outside pattern, and (c) is a view showing a change in a shape of an
upper portion of the pattern.

[0028] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a major part schematically showing
the internal conductor pattern of the existing common mode filter.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view schematically showing a
common mode filter according to the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a major part schematically showing
the internal conductor pattern of the common mode filter according to the
present invention.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a process of
manufacturing the common mode filter according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention in
which objects of the present invention may be specifically implemented
will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the
exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the same terms and
reference numerals will be used to describe the same components.
Therefore, an additional description for the same component will be
omitted below.

[0033] Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of a common mode filter
according to the present invention will be described in detail with
reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view schematically showing a
common mode filter according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is an
enlarged view of a major part schematically showing the internal
conductor pattern of the common mode filter according to the present
invention, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a process
of manufacturing the common mode filter according to the present
invention.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 4, the common mode filter 100 as an exemplary
embodiment of an electronic component according to the present invention
may be mainly configured to include a magnetic substrate 110, and an
internal conductor pattern 120 formed on the magnetic substrate 110.

[0036] In addition, although not shown in detail, the common mode filter
100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may
include the internal conductor pattern 120 formed as a primary coil on
the magnetic substrate 110, and a secondary coil formed in a shape
corresponding to that of the internal conductor pattern 120 via an
insulating layer on an upper portion of the internal conductor pattern
120, and a magnetic material or a magnetic substrate formed in a shape
corresponding to that of the magnetic substrate 110 on an upper portion
of the secondary coil.

[0037] Meanwhile, the internal conductor pattern 120, which is a conductor
pattern of the common mode filter 100 formed in a coil shape on the
magnetic substrate 110, may be mainly formed in an oval shape to include
a straight part 121 and a curved part 122 connected to the straight part
121 at both sides thereof.

[0038] Here, referring to FIG. 5, in the exemplary embodiments of the
present invention, a line width W2 of the curved part 122 may be smaller
than a line width W1 of the straight part 121

[0039] Therefore, an interval S2 between the curved parts 122 adjacent to
each other may be larger than an interval S1 between the straight parts
121 adjacent to each other.

[0040] As an example, in the case in which the line width W1 of the
straight part 121 is 10 μm, the line width W2 of the straight part 122
may be formed to be 8 to 9 μm.

[0041] In addition, in the case in which the interval S1 between the
straight part 121 adjacent to each other is 10 μm, the interval S2
between the curved part 122 adjacent to each other may be formed to be 10
to 12 μm.

[0042] Therefore, in the common mode filter 100 including the internal
conductor pattern 120 according to the exemplary embodiment of the
present invention, in the case of forming the internal conductor pattern
120 on the magnetic substrate 110 by a photolithography process, the line
width W1 of the straight part 121 and the line width W2 of the curved
part 122 in the internal conductor pattern 120 are formed to be different
and the interval S1 between the straight parts 121 and the interval S2
between the curved parts 122 are formed to be different, such that a
treating liquid is smoothly penetrated or removed at the time of
performing exposure, development, and the etching processes to increase
implementation of the internal conductor pattern.

[0043] That is, in the internal conductor pattern 120 according to the
exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the line width W2 of the
curbed part 122 is formed to be smaller than the line width W1 of the
straight part 121 and the interval S2 between the curbed parts 122 is
formed to be larger than the interval S1 between the straight parts 121,
such that the treating liquid is smoothly penetrated or removed at the
time of performing the photolithography process for forming the curved
part 122 to implement a high-precision fine pattern and a high resolution
conductor pattern. Therefore, connection and precision of the internal
conductor pattern may be improved to thereby improve characteristics of
the common mode filter 100 and product reliability.

[0044] A method of manufacturing a common mode filter according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as above will be
described below.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 6, in the method of manufacturing the common mode
filter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
after the magnetic substrate is formed, a pretreatment process removing
pollution materials such as dust of the magnetic substrate, a treatment
solution, and the like may be performed.

[0046] In addition, a seed layer for plating, which is made of Ti, Cr, Cu,
Ag, and the like, may be formed on the magnetic substrate for plating on
an upper portion of the magnetic substrate. Here, the insulating layer
may be formed on the magnetic substrate, and may be formed by mixing at
least one low-K dielectric polymer material such as low-K ceramic or
parylene, polyimide, liquid crystal polymer (LCP), or Teflon with each
other.

[0047] Meanwhile, the seed layer may be formed by using sputtering,
e-beam, or the like. Preferably, the seed layer may be formed by a cold
spray method under the atmosphere of argon (Ar), helium (He), nitrogen
dioxide (N2) in high pressure, such that particles of the surface of
the magnetic substrate and metal particles of the seed layer may be
uniformly formed without the voids.

[0048] Thereafter, a photoresist or a dry film is coated or compressed on
the seed layer, and the exposure, the development, the etching, the
photoresist removing processes, and the like, are then performed on the
seed layer using a photo mask having a shape corresponding to the
internal conductor pattern of which the line width and the interval of
the straight part are different from those of the curved part, thereby
making it possible to form the internal conductor pattern according to
the exemplary embodiment of the present invention of which the line width
and the interval of the straight part are different from those of the
curved part.

[0049] In the case of performing the exposure, the development, the
etching, the photoresist removing processes, and the like, in the related
art, it is not easy for the treatment solutions to penetrate between the
internal conductor patterns and be removed. However, in the exemplary
embodiment of the present invention, the line width of the straight part
is different from that of the curved part, that is, the line width of the
curved part is smaller than that of the straight part, and the interval
between the curved parts is larger than that between the straight parts,
such that at the time of forming the internal conductor pattern of the
curved part, the treatment solution is easily penetrated and removed,
thereby making it possible to implement the high precision fine pattern
and the high resolution conductor pattern.

[0050] Therefore, the common mode filter including the high-precision and
high resolution internal conductor pattern as described above may
increase impedance and a coupling coefficient in a high frequency band
and improve the characteristics of the filter, such as an low DC
resistance, and the like, and the product reliability.

[0051] As set forth above, with the conductor pattern and the electronic
component including the same according to the present invention, the high
precision fine line width and the high resolution conductor pattern may
be implemented to improve connectivity, thereby improving characteristics
and reliability of the electronic component.

[0052] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have
been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will
appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are
possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as
disclosed in the accompanying claims. Accordingly, such modifications,
additions and substitutions should also be understood to fall within the
scope of the present invention.